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Should We Assume That Black Ops Declassified Was Rushed?

How exactly can a development studio make a game in only four or five months...? 

Evidently, that's how long it took developer Nihilistic to produce Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, and that's probably the reason you saw so little of the game in terms of promotion.

This according to NowGamer citing Internet sleuth Superannuation, which revealed on its Twitter feed that Nihilistic didn't even start making Black Ops Declassified until Resistance: Burning Skies shipped. The latter released in May, which means the team had less than 6 months to make Declassified...and that just seems like a very short development cycle. Wouldn't it make sense to assume the project was rushed so there would be a CoD Vita iteration to launch alongside Black Ops II for consoles?

I wouldn't be surprised in the least. But that may not have been the best idea, depending on how well Declassified does on the sales charts...

Related Game(s): Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified

Tags: call of duty, black ops declassified, black ops vita, call of duty vita

11/14/2012 10:55:30 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (44 posts)

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 @ 11:13:04 PM
Reply

I think they make all of the CoD games in that timeframe and then just relax and watch the cash flow in.

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 12:57:46 AM

I actually don't think that's true. It seems like Treyarch and Infinity Ward pretty much use the full two years they're given.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 10:32:12 AM

Takes them a long time to cut and paste buildings then.

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BikerSaint
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 @ 11:19:58 PM
Reply

Hey world
Any luck on that wheel offer I sent you today, or the other one earlier?

Just wanted to know if you want me to keep watching out it or not.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 @ 11:57:38 PM

Thanks for that Saint but I decided not to go for it yet so you don't have to keep an eye out. I just can't afford it right now. If you see any super killer PS3 console prices though let me know as I'm on the lookout for a friend of mine who wants a second machine.

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BikerSaint
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 12:22:10 AM

Ok,
Shame I didn't know about your bud yesterday, there were 160GB refurbed certified Slims going for $200, but it was only a 24 hour deal that's over now.

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BikerSaint
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 @ 11:21:38 PM
Reply

Ironically at Walmart right now.....

COD: Black Ops Declassified Wi-fi Vita Plus 4GB Memory Card Value Bundle for $249.99 with free shipping.


BTW, and the same price for these other 2 Vita bundles there also...

PlayStation Vita w/ Wi-Fi (White) and Assassin's Creed 3 Liberation Plus 4GB Memory Card Value Bundle

PlayStation Vita w/ Wi-Fi and Madden NFL 13 Value Bundle


http://www.walmart.com/ip/PlayStation-Vita-w-Wi-Fi-Black-and-Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops-Declassified-Plus-4GB-Memory-Card-Value-Bundle/21677997?srccode=cii_10043468&cpncode=31-50260976-2&adid=1500000000000036337750&veh=cse

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sawao_yamanaka
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 @ 11:25:02 PM
Reply

I've heard good things from cod fanatics. Plays like the original black ops and they have yet to play single player. So it's the normal annual game lol.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 12:48:09 AM

This is the Vita game though.

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sawao_yamanaka
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 1:49:38 AM

Yup, plays like black ops and everything. So no change. Considering how short the campaigns are in the normal cod games I really don't know why people are upset about. Heck, Unit 13 can be beaten in about an hour and a half. The whole point of it is to be able to have a shooter on the go. Which it is what they promised. Most of the reviewers have compared it to the bigger console releases, not everybody plays and sits down to play a portable like that. I take my vita everywhere and play it in short spurts.

Could the harsh reviews be warranted? Maybe, but I'm more than willing to give it a chance. 5 of my psn friends have it and enjoyed it. They play it between sessions of black ops 2.

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Lawless SXE
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 2:48:36 AM

That's one thing that I really haven't liked about the critical reception to Vita games to date. So much of it is comparing the games on the consoles. Sure, the Vita may be a portable console at heart, but that doesn't mean that the games should be treated as though they're on a home system. They're designed to be playable in shorter bursts and that should be taken into consideration.

At the same time, they must be based on what they try to be, so if it attempts to be some massive, story-driven epic and fails in execution, then it probably deserves to be a bit hammered, but that isn't the case in Declassified.

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Temjin001
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 9:30:14 AM

Lawless, concerning comparing vita to consoles. I think Sony is largely to blame. They've been touting how the Vita is a console experience on the go since it revealed. This is proving to be false. Just because the hardware spec may seem like a match the quality of production and effort definately is not. We're in an age where top talent and total man hours speaks louder than tech. I think Sony should've never have positioned the Vita as a console equivalent. COD and AC are only driving this disparity in quality home.

Last edited by Temjin001 on 11/15/2012 9:32:12 AM

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 10:36:20 AM

oohh, I didn't know it was out.

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sawao_yamanaka
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 10:48:27 AM

Except vita does have console like experiences on the go: Uncharted golden abyss, ninja gaiden sigma plus, gravity rush, need for speed most wanted. The blame isn't on Sony positioning the vita in such way but on the developers for not creating these experiences. The iPhone games don't get marked down for their "console" experience on the go logo do they? Well neither should the vita.

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Jawknee
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 11:59:22 AM

Sawao is correct. Many of these games do feel like console games on the go. All of those he listed and more.

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SayWord
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 12:02:53 PM

Well i understand your viewpoint temjin i have to disagree. While sony does say alot of dumb sh*t sometimes, i feel like that isnt one of them. As sawaosaid there are console quality games and even more so then the ones sawao listed. But there are also games like super monkey ball, zero escape and ragnarok odyssey that fit the handheld really well.

My favorite games for the vita have to be on psn. There are so many gems from escape plan to little kids story to orgarhythm. There is a lot of hidden gems there that no one seems to be paying attention too.

With persona 4 and dj max shipping soon i have to say the vita really has the best of both worlds.
Last edited by SayWord on 11/15/2012 12:04:07 PM

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Temjin001
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 12:21:07 PM

What I stated is in direct reference to Lawless, "That's one thing that I really haven't liked about the critical reception to Vita games to date. So much of it is comparing the games on the consoles. "

I don't doubt there's games, or ports of games that will feel like a console experience. My point is that expecting games like CoD, AC, or Uncharted (yes, uncharted because I have no doubt a Vita Uncharted will ever match U2 or U3 in production and quality). The issue I feel is that marketing a niche product with $40 games will unlikely ever match that of the biggest and greatest offerings on flagship hardware, like PS3. Sorry, but Activision will probably NEVER release a CoD on a Vita that matches it's console counterpart in quality.
As I stated above, the Vita can not be a direct match for consoles, in the state it's in now, because few publishers will be willing to sacrifice so much man hours and budget.

btw, games like Ninja Gaiden don't count because they are ports and not exclusives designed with only a Vita audience in mind. Personally, I think Vita owners would've been better served with a port of BLOPS2 rather than a cheap knock off.

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sawao_yamanaka
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 12:53:27 PM

Except those games I mentioned, besides ninja gaiden, are as good as their console counterparts. Golden abyss plays more akin to the first uncharted, treasure hunting and everything. Most wanted, besides a downgrade in graphics, plays like the ps3 and dare I say it, it is better than the ps3 one. I've logged on more hours in that than the ps3 version. People are not giving the vita a chance, but then again neither are the developers.

I forgot about those sayword, little kings story is my addiction right now. That game is just plain fun. Been meaning to purchase orgarythm for awhile. Heck, lbp vita is a better fit on the vita than it is on the ps3. Maybe some people should set their standards lower or actually play the system instead of going by what other people say about its games and the console.
Last edited by sawao_yamanaka on 11/15/2012 12:55:01 PM

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Lawless SXE
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 2:21:37 PM

I do agree, Temjin, that Sony's positioning of the system is wrong, as it only promotes a poorer reception to the games as a collective. It raises expectations higher than they have any business being, which will necessarily result in disappointment when they finally emerge as anything less than equivalent to their console brethren. It doesn't help that, as you said, risk averse publishers will not put in the requisite budget behind projects to get them to a higher standard.

And sawao, I'm not saying that there aren't console-like experiences out there or that they don't deserve to be looked at as such when they are. What I'm arguing is that critics, in general, are too hard on lower profile Vita games, or those that are designed with a handheld mentality, because they go in expecting console quality. It's wrong.

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Temjin001
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 3:22:23 PM

and just as a general point of clarification for everyone involved in this thread, while the Vita may functionally be just as competent as a full fledged console, hence why some games can and DO feel on par to PS3, the creme of the crop offerings will likely always be outstripped by the PS3.
It comes down to the level of vested energy and resources a dev will place into a handheld product.

There's probably going to be no such thing as a AAA produced game for Vita.

Production scale and quality has become a very huge factor this generation. Nintendo saw this trend coming and they bowed out with Wii and Wii U. Instead, they innovate on the side of changing the functionality of their games to greatly differentiate the need to produce new consoles. I noticed this started happening with Final Fantasy: CC and the GBA to GC connectivity. This idea of innovation in functionality was carried directly into the Nintendo DS.

I cite Nintendo because they don't offer games that are Hollywood in production or even offer games that try to capture reality. I garuntee the average Nintendo produced title is maybe a fourth of the budget in comparison to the latest Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, Activision, or EA game. There's a TON of work involved in sending crews out to locations across the globe to capture reference data. Taking photographs and video of textures and materials to recreate a virtual landscape. Paid Hollywood actors like Ellen Page I'm sure don't come cheap either. There's dozens of reasons why production caps shape the reception of the biggest and best games on PS3.

This is standard of quality that Sony or any publisher can match on the Vita without sending themselves into the red real fast unless the Vita somehow exploded in popularity and demand.

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DazeOfWar
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 12:29:56 AM
Reply

When the game doesn't get sent out to reviewers on time just says we need to sell as many of these as possible before the horrible reviews come out. So far the 3 critic reviews on Metacritic are 40, 30, & 20. Hell they say each mission last about 3-4 minutes and the whole SP can be beat in 42 minutes. That is just not right. They even say the MP is crappy.

I wanted this when it was first announced but after seeing the first trailer in was never going to be good enough to purchase.

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BikerSaint
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 1:52:18 AM
Reply

Wow, I just got done reading Game Informers review of BLOPS:Declassified & they gave it a super-low score of only 3, and sub-titling their headline of it, "A Complete Embarrassment For Gaming's Biggest Franchise"

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/call_of_duty_black_ops_declassified/b/playstation_vita/archive/2012/11/14/black-ops-declassified-review.aspx

Here's their full article....
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 11/15/2012 11:10:52 AM

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___________
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 2:17:09 AM
Reply

well IF the stories are accurate than of course.
this is exactly the problem with the vita though.
they bring 3 of the industries biggest names over to the system, and be so lackadaisical about it.
$ony really needs to step in and say no sorry guys, either you give this the attention and time it deserves or your not releasing it at all!
its their platform, its about f*cking time they took irresponsibility with what is or is not sold on it!
you dont see apple, M$, ninty, android, ect, ect, letting sh*t like this released on the store!

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SayWord
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 11:28:01 AM

You must either not own any of those consoles or you are completely ignorant. I know this makes me sound like an a hole but its difficult to go from such intelligent comments from users to this whiy little b*tch who doesnt know what he is talking about.

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sawao_yamanaka
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 11:31:13 AM

Guess you haven't played a lot of the shovelware nintendo and Microsoft have released huh? Yea of course they don't have crap on their systems! Idiotic statement of the year.

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___________
Friday, November 16, 2012 @ 8:17:05 AM

right, so M$ and ninty do it so its ok for $ony to do it.
ok no problem, a guy stole my phone yesterday so im going to steal someone elses and when i get arrested and im front of the judge ill give you a call and you can explain nah its ok because someone else did it too.
ok?
hypocrite, idiotic shortsightedness like that and IM the ignorant one!
sigh.

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Lawless SXE
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 2:28:47 AM
Reply

Most definitely. I mean, it's getting pretty bad reviews and it comes as no surprise that development didn't start until after Resistance launched. I mean, we didn't even hear a whisper about the possibility of the game until E3. With it being such a high profile offering, you'd expect a reveal to come sooner...

And with a campaign that reportedly lasts less than an hour, a slipshod multiplayer and no zombies... kinda reeks of a product stuck together with tacks and sticky tape. It was obviously rushed and underbudgeted.

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dillonthebunny
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 2:53:07 AM
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again its 'professionals' vs gamers, the gamers seem to like this more than the reviewers, maybe its down to the gamers spending so much on this version and justifying to themselves or it really its fun and worth the money?

i will pick this up, but it will be cheap when ever i do it, i won't spend more on this version than i did for blops2, that's just insane.

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Beamboom
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 3:55:52 AM

It is very typical that gamers are excited about a newly bought game. Party to justify the purchase to themselves like you say, but also because typically the first impressions of any game are pretty good, before the uglier parts are discovered.

Last edited by Beamboom on 11/15/2012 4:11:39 AM

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ulsterscot
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 3:29:45 AM
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unfortunately my eyes are not what they used to be - and glasses give me a headache so I won't be trying COD on the small screen

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Crabba
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 5:54:03 AM
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you just knew that something was wrong when all they showed at E3 was a title screen...

Man, how you give an important title like that so little time & money is just an unbelievably bad business move by Sony..

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Lawless SXE
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 6:21:13 AM

Activision. There's only so much sway that Sony can hold over them, and that probably went as far as pleading with them to put CoD on the Vita, with the suggestion of Nihilistic as a cheap way of doing it.

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CrusaderForever
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 8:06:53 AM
Reply

This is a strange one to say the least. The critics hate it with a passion! The gamers like it and are surprised it wasn't as terrible as the demo we saw earlier.

6 months isn't enough time and the Vita deserves more respect. Activision should have gotten a different developer to tackle this like say Treyarch!!! They could have released it 6 months after Black Ops II and made it Black Ops II for the Vita instead of what they did. It's a shame though.

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sawao_yamanaka
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 11:38:43 AM

The five people on my list are raving about how closely it resembles black ops 1. They said that the multiplayer has been the best aspect. I do go by reviews at least somewhat. Ben's opinion I respect on a lot of games. Heck I picked up resistance after he said that it was decent, it was better than I expected.

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CrusaderForever
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 2:23:48 PM

Yeah, Resistance was a lot of fun. I didn't like the washed out textures. But the control was spot on. I am hearing the MP is fantastic on Declass because it's 4vs4 and the maps are small so you are never searching for anyone to kill! I will pick it up on the cheap as I am broke right now.

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Simcoe
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 9:15:07 AM
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No longer Nihilistic Software, now nStigate Games.

Nihilistic Software has (quite recently it seems) reorganised itself and will be moving away from boxed games and will now focus on downloadable, on-line and mobile games. With this reorganisation (and probably a bid to shield itself from it's reputation) the company has changed it's name to nStigate Games.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 10:45:23 AM
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Wow, Gameinformer gives it a 3. Giantbomb 1/5. Metascore is 29. But the good old CoD fanboys at IGN gave it an 8.5!

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BikerSaint
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 11:16:04 AM

Yeah, I did post the link for GameInformer's review last night(about 1/2 way up above).

It's just waiting Ben's OK

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Beamboom
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 11:18:41 AM

... Or are they just Vita fanboys? ;)

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 11:22:24 AM

No such thing Beam, at least not inside the internet machine's video game magazine businesses.

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sawao_yamanaka
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 11:35:27 AM

Not sure how much I would trust on that review. If your first paragraph rants on about the vita not having its must have app or that uncharted and assassins creed are lackluster. Then no I won't go by that review. Those two games are two of the bests on the vita.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 12:22:30 PM

I think it's an okay segue to open a review with, Vita lacks a killer app and CoD is THE game this generation so it's only natural.

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BikerSaint
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 11:25:55 AM
Reply

ARRRGGGG, Ben

Can you please get the webmaster guy to fix this frigging horrible, no-good-for-nothing, "Toggle Scrolling" crapola????

I mean, every single time I make a post, it automatically comes back on, if I check out someone's username, it comes back, and if i go into the forum & back, it still comes back.
Hell, sometimes when I just go from one thread to another, it comes right back. It's become the button from hell.

Please, please, either get rid of it altogether, or get the webmaster to take it off of default mode, & make it an "opt in" instead of a constant "opt out" option.

Thanks

Last edited by BikerSaint on 11/15/2012 11:28:04 AM

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, November 15, 2012 @ 12:23:35 PM

YES! We need a permanent toggle on or off. And half the time the thing doesn't even work, let alone the annoyance of it constantly turning itself back on.

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